Foot massage units are available which are adapted to massage the soles or like affected parts of the person to be treated and which comprise recessed receiving portions for placing the feet thereinto, and a foot holding cover for covering the insteps. The person to be treated inserts his or her feet into the respective receiving portions to have the insteps pressed by the holding cover, and is given massage on the soles by pressure members projecting upward from behind the soles (see the publication of JP-A No. 2000-167021).
With the massage unit described, the pressure members serving as massage means are movable usually only forwardly and backwardly of the recessed receiving portions but are not movable leftward or rightward. Thus, the pressure members are reciprocatingly movable forward and backward on the same line and are therefore unable to uniformly massage the entire soles or to give massage to a position laterally away from the line of the movement of the members.
Accordingly, if the line of the movement differs from the desired position, for example, due to a difference in the size of the foot of the person to be treated, the person is likely to feel discomfort. The pressure members are further unable to massage the soles at the arch side thereof where a high therapeutic effect can be given.
Furthermore, the foot is very difficult to place into or bring out of the recessed receiving portion because the foot holding cover becomes an obstacle, while it is likely that the foot holding cover feels tight.
An object of the present invention is to provide a massage unit wherein the means for massaging the affected part of the person to be treated is provided with means for moving the affected part so as to give massage to a desired position.